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Tiberius Brastaviceanu

Design Like No One Is Patenting - How SparkFun Stays Ahead of the Pack - 0 views

www.wired.com/...sparkfun-10-years

open hardware business model Sparkfun paper innovation

shared by Tiberius Brastaviceanu on 26 Jan 13 - No Cached
  • Electronics supplier SparkFun designs dozens of products a year and they haven’t patented a single one. It’s worked out pretty well so far.
  • makes its living by shipping kits and components like bread boards, servo motors and Arduino parts to a mixture of students, hobbyists, and professionals making prototypes
  • the company has made its name is in a stable of its own custom parts and kits, the designs for which it gives away for free.
  • ...40 more annotations...
  • “We find that people will copy your design no matter what you do,” she says. “You might as well just play the game and go ahead and innovate. It’s fun, it keeps us on our toes.”
  • “The open source model just forces us to innovate,” says Boudreaux.
  • the open hardware model means that SparkFun’s existence depends not on any particular product, but on an ongoing relationship with customers that’s not too dissimilar to the loyalty commanded by a fashion house.
  • wolf of obsolescence is always at electronics’ door
  • don’t spend much time worrying about the copyists, they just keep releasing new looks
  • it’s about staying relevant and filling the needs of the community
  • SparkFun’s rapid turnover model is one that echoes the fashion industry.
  • keep their service exemplary
  • listening to their customers
  • developed a community of loyal users and fans
  • weekly new product posts
  • You can learn a lot about what a company cares about by looking at what they give away and what they protect.
  • SparkFun’s actual value is in the community of fans and loyal customers that keep coming back, and the expertise under its roof in servicing their needs.
  • Their catalog has about 2,500 items at any given time
  • SparkFun orders parts from 500 suppliers
  • 15 new products every week
  • hey retire products at a similar rate, due to either low sales, or obsolescence
  • Of the 2,500 items, about 400 are things designed internally.
  • To handle the pace of change, SparkFun needs to keep its inventory lean.
  • “We try to do small runs and order in small quantities. Especially something that’s going to be obsolete quickly.”
  • To help manage the demand, they use an in-house software system
  • along with inventory and CMS management, tries to predict demand for different components and ensure they get ordered with sufficient lead time to account for how long it takes to get there.
  • the innovation (revisions and new releases) here at SparkFun is organic and not planned,” says Boudreaux, “But we do a few things to make sure we are keeping up.”
  • monitors all costumer feedback from emails to the comment section that is present on every page of the company’s site. They also ensure that team members have time to tinker in the office, write tutorials, and visit hackerspaces and maker events. “For us, designing (and revising) widgets is the job.”
  • anyone in the company can suggest ideas and contribute designs.
  • ideas run through an internal process of design, review, prototyping, testing and release.
  • “They eat these products up, even if the products are not ready for the mainstream & educator community due to minimal documentation or stability.”
  • symbiotic relationship with these early adopters, where feedback helps SparkFun revised and improve products for use by the rest of the community
  • I don’t think they help much
  • The risk of this rate of change is that SparkFun can end up outpacing some of their customers.
  • “There’s balance in everything,” says Boudreaux, “Innovation does not necessarily need speed in order to create valuable change. Sometimes innovation works at a slower pace, but that does not mean it is any less valuable to those that benefit from it, and we are constantly balancing the needs of two very different customers.”
  • unprotected and unencumbered by patents
  • racing to get the latest, coolest things in the hands of its customers.
  • patents
  • “We have to be willing to kill ideas that don’t work, take a lot of tough criticism, and move fast. If we stay agile, we stay relevant.”
  • cost $30,000 to $50,000
  • USPTO is so backed up you’ll have to wait three to five years to even hear back on their decision.
  • how much does technology change in five years?
  • company’s blog where they’ve been documenting production and business practices for years.
  • they even want to open source Sparkle. “It’s a wild ride,” she says, “but a fun one for sure.”
  • Tiberius Brastaviceanu on 26 Jan 13
     
    shared by Jonathan, annotated by Tibi
Tiberius Brastaviceanu

O-Send Opto-Electronics (Chongqing) Co., Ltd. - Laser module, Photodetector - 3 views

o-send.en.alibaba.com

company laser supplier detector optics photonics electronics Tibi Jonathan China

shared by Tiberius Brastaviceanu on 30 Nov 11 - No Cached
  • Tiberius Brastaviceanu on 30 Nov 11
     
    O-Send Opto-Electronics (Chongqing) Co., Ltd.
Tiberius Brastaviceanu

SpikenzieLabs Store, Electronic Products and Accessories - 0 views

www.spikenzielabs.com/Catalog

electronics shopping arduino electronic supplier store local Montreal

shared by Tiberius Brastaviceanu on 15 Dec 11 - Cached
  • Tiberius Brastaviceanu on 21 Aug 12
     
    Phil buys Arduino there. Nice store for DIYS projets
Tiberius Brastaviceanu

Maddison electronic store Laval-Montreal - 1 views

www.maddison.ca

Montreal company supplier store material electronic parts Tibi Jonathan materials local Montreal

shared by Tiberius Brastaviceanu on 21 Dec 11 - No Cached
  • Tiberius Brastaviceanu on 21 Aug 12
     
    ordered from them already, OK
Tiberius Brastaviceanu

Addison Electronique Ltd. - 0 views

www.addison-electronique.com/home.htm

addison electronique company supplier material electronic Tibi Jonathan local Montreal Montreal

shared by Tiberius Brastaviceanu on 09 Jan 12 - No Cached
  • Tiberius Brastaviceanu on 21 Aug 12
     
    already ordered from them.
Tiberius Brastaviceanu

Avtech Electrosystems - Nanosecond Waveform Generators - 2 views

www.avtechpulse.com

generator amplifier store supplier electronics material Tibi

shared by Tiberius Brastaviceanu on 23 Dec 11 - Cached
  • Tiberius Brastaviceanu on 21 Aug 12
     
    never ordered from them
Tiberius Brastaviceanu

DealExtreme - 2 views

www.dealextreme.com

electronics shop hardware gadgets deals supplier material

shared by Tiberius Brastaviceanu on 07 Mar 12 - Cached
  • Tiberius Brastaviceanu on 21 Aug 12
     
    made an large order once, and I am satisfied with the process.
Tiberius Brastaviceanu

PJRC Store - 1 views

www.pjrc.com/teensy3.html

electronics mosquito_project mosquito_phil_project part supplier

shared by Tiberius Brastaviceanu on 23 Aug 13 - No Cached
  • Tiberius Brastaviceanu on 23 Aug 13
     
    "Teensy USB Development Board"
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